Friday, August 12, 2005

Well, Siberia is Melting...

Yup, according to an article in yesterday's Guardian, the permafrost plains of Siberia are melting for the first time since the last ice age. They're set to release billions of tonnes of methane into the air. Methane makes carbon monoxide look like Kool Aid.

An "ecological landslide that is probably irreversible and is undoubtedly connected to climatic warming".

"This is a big deal because you can't put the permafrost back once it's gone."

"The assumption has been that we wouldn't see these kinds of changes until the world is a little warmer, but this suggests we're running out of time."

That makes me wish we had put more thought into the last hundred years. I guess all the SUVs and Waverunners weren't such a great idea, eh? At least my condo in Kamchakta is going to start looking a lot more attractive.